In the application of closures to containers, it has become known to provide some indication that the closure has been removed in order to indicate to a user that the contents may have been tampered with. In one type of tamper indicating package, a plastic closure is applied to the container and a tamper indicating band is connected by weakened lines to the closure. The band engages a bead on the container such that when the closure is removed, the band is broken from the closure along the weakened line leaving the band on the container.
In one type of closure, the closure is made of plastic and the band is formed after the closure has been molded by a scoring along the periphery of the skirt of the closure. In such a closure, it is necessary to permit the closure to be stored for a long period such as 12 hours before the scoring is applied. This necessitates a delay in the production of the closures between the molding and the scoring operations.
In another type of closure, the band is connected to the skirt of the closure by a plurality of bridges. These bridges are molded in the closure necessitating a more complex mold. In addition the bridges must be such that they will not break upon application but will break upon removal. Accordingly, the prior art structures have disadvantages.
Accordingly, among the objectives of the present invention are to provide a tamper indicating device that can be utilized on conventional existing closures which will function effectively to provide an indication that a closure has been removed or possibly tampered with; which is low in cost and can be readily applied.
In accordance with the invention, the tamper indicating device comprises a plurality of radially extending legs adapted to extend radially outwardly and axially about the closure, said legs being joined to one another at their inner ends, an integral annular band joining the other ends of the legs. The band extends beneath the flange of the container when the device is applied over the closure on the container. The legs are made of a material such that the band can snap and/or shrink radially inwardly after application of the device to a position beneath the flange of the container thereby providing a tamper indicating device.